Hazards of Magic
by Sefilin
Summary: Libra is falling to Earth and the beam cannon can't quite stop it so it's up to Duo to save the day. Unfortunately there are side effects that the other pilots have to deal with.
1. Duo

Anyone ever seen Ruin Explorers/Fam and Ihrie?   
  
This is for you... and for whoever it was that put up those Rising   
Earth pics of Duo the chipmunk. They were cute enough to inspire   
this ^_^;  
  
========================================  
  
The Hazards of Magic  
A Gundam W - Ruin Explorers Fusion  
By Sefilin  
  
========================================  
  
Duo watched the blast from Wing Zero's gun head towards the   
fragment of Libra still heading for Earth. It expanded as it left   
the barrel, the golden blast of energy beginning to burn through the   
piece of scrap metal that was beginning to fall through the   
atmosphere.  
  
But it wasn't enough, the fragment, once the blast had passed   
through, was still big enough to pose a threat to Earth's climate.   
  
As Wing continued to fall through the atmosphere ahead of   
Libra, Duo sighed. There he goes, trying to self-destruct again.   
But there were things that could still be done, though most people   
probably thought otherwise. After all, if Heero and Wing Zero   
couldn't do it, who could?  
  
A light touch to his thrusters and Duo was heading towards the   
falling fragment, cackling madly and half-hysterically. He hadn't   
wanted it to come to this; it was too embarrassing. But with the   
fate of the world and all that at stake, he supposed he could deal   
with a little embarrassment.  
  
So, as he drew ever closer to the fragment, he tuned out the   
worried queries from Quatre and began to cast the only spell he knew   
was fully capable of spreading Libra into atoms across the   
atmosphere. His tongue twisted with strange words, familiar from a   
lifetime of study, though unused for a long time.  
  
And as the final word was spoken, Libra began to glow then it   
disappeared in a blast of harmless light and Duo was straining to   
see his monitors from where he sat in the middle of his seat.   
  
A sweatdrop appeared on his head as he realised he'd forgotten   
to organise things so his Shinigami would land itself safely;   
somewhere he could sit until he'd worked out how to get his hands on   
those pills...  
  
With a flick of a tiny chipmunk's tail, Duo scrambled to the   
edge of his seat, looking up at the controls across the chasm that   
separated them. This was _so_ not good, he chittered to himself   
before realising what he was doing and clamping his mouth shut.  
  
He heard Quatre's voice loudly in the cockpit, yelling for   
him, warning him that if he didn't pull out of his current   
trajectory, he'd end up burning up on entry. He could hear the   
shock in the blonde's voice, and not just from his current   
situation. Quatre obviously wanted to know what had just happened.  
  
Yeah, he thought to himself, and, though I'd avoid telling you   
what happened, if at all possible, I _would_ change course, if I   
could.  
  
If he got out of this, he was really and truly going to kill   
Professor G for accidentally casting this damn curse on him. Why   
the Professor had decided he wanted the pilot of Deathscythe to   
learn magic, he had no idea, but he'd gotten into more trouble   
through that than anything. And when Professor G had decided to   
learn magic as well and use him to practice on...  
  
It was a good thing he had teeth he could grind in this form.  
  
Uncaring of the spell he'd chosen to cast first, without _any_   
training, the Professor had sent it flying at Duo and from then on,   
every time he dared cast any magic, he'd end up like this; a   
_chipmunk_!  
  
His own teacher had managed to create something to reverse the   
effects, but, not expecting to have to cast magic in the middle of a   
battle, he'd left the pills back on the Peacemillion, sitting on a   
shelf in the bathroom cabinet.  
  
The heat of re-entry began to make itself known and Duo   
grabbed his tail, fanning it in front of his face and had resigned   
himself to being barbequed when a loud clang was heard and the   
Gundam began to turn, pulling back enough for the worst of the   
strain to be taken off Deathscythe.  
  
"Duo?" Heero's voice sounded from the speakers in the cockpit,   
sounding more concerned than he'd ever heard before.  
  
He considered answering, but Heero would likely think it   
static, so he curled up on the seat until Heero had landed, placing   
Shinigami gently on the ground. Then he waited impatiently for   
Heero to open the door.  
  
Eventually, he did, and Duo grinned, as well as a chipmunk   
could grin, up at Heero, who was looking baffled by the cockpit's   
emptiness. Then his eyes fell on the tiny chipmunk sitting on the   
seat, wearing a priest's costume and a braid, smiling winsomely up   
at him with violet eyes.  
  
He blinked and stared.   
  
He blinked again.  
  
"Duo...?" the question came tentatively.  
  
Duo nodded, blushing, and began to wave his arms around as he   
tried to explain.  
  
Heero didn't stick around to hear though, as soon as Duo had   
started talking, with his high chipmunk's voice, the Japanese pilot   
had fallen backwards out of the cockpit in a dead faint.  
  
It was Duo's turn to blink.  
  
He huffed impatiently and, planting his hands on tiny chipmunk   
hips, he began tapping his foot, tail twitching behind him.  
  
And he waited for Heero to recover.  
  
He waited a long time.  
  
===Owari===  



	2. Heero

For Ad, Emily and Hydra, since they asked... And Hydra since Hydra   
mentioned something about Muddled Waters ^_^  
  
========================================  
  
The Hazards of Magic  
A Gundam W - Ruin Explorers Fusion  
By Sefilin  
  
========================================  
  
Heero moaned slightly as he came to, finding himself lying on   
the open hatch of a Gundam that looked quite a bit like Deathscythe   
Hell. _What_ he was doing there, he failed to recall, and his   
imagination seemed to have shorted, since it wasn't currently   
supplying him with possibilities.  
  
A vague sense of uneasiness accompanied his attempts to bring   
about clarity of mind, and he had a sneaking suspicion he didn't   
_want_ to know why he was where he was. That was the problem with not   
remembering - you could never tell for sure whether things would be   
better off knowing or not. It would be much so easier if you   
remembered, so you could tell whether you wanted to.  
  
Heero paused.  
  
Wait a minute... did that even make sense?   
  
He ran it through his mind again and came to the conclusion that   
he'd been spending far too much time with Duo lately.   
  
Which thought had the unhappy effect of bringing everything   
back. The fight, the attempt at the destruction of Libra by himself,   
then the actual destruction of Libra by... something coming from Duo's   
Gundam. The strange silence on the braided baka's part and him   
catching the other Gundam and setting it down, climbing up to see what   
was wrong then...  
  
He had a vague impression of a disgustingly cute critter sitting   
on Duo's seat, wearing a costume and braid just like Duo's. But that   
couldn't be right. Where would Duo have gotten a chipmunk from at   
such a time, why would he dress it up like himself and _why_ try to   
make Heero think it was him? He knew it wasn't April's Fools Day   
since that dreadful period had passed by while they were still on the   
Peacemillion.  
  
Then it occurred to Heero that he hadn't moved since waking up,   
that he was just lying there, staring up at Deathscythe Hell's head   
silhouetted against the sky. And he noticed that the sky was much   
darker than it had been, which meant he'd been out for a good few   
hours.  
  
It was just like Duo to waste his time like that.  
  
He wondered briefly what was happening back up in space, whether   
Relena and the other pilots were okay. They must be wondering what   
was happening too, especially after the stunt Duo pulled.  
  
_How_ had he managed to hide that powerful a weapon from the   
rest of them? Heero knew it hadn't been there when he'd stolen those   
parts off it right back at the beginning of the war and he'd been over   
the blueprints of the upgraded Gundam, just in case he had to fly it   
sometime...  
  
So what was it?  
  
And why hadn't Duo told them?  
  
A frustrated growl emerged from his throat and drew his   
attention back to his current position, still lying... flat on his...   
back... staring up... at... the...sky...  
  
"Dammit!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, frustrated with himself.  
  
A strange, yet eerily familiar, sound broke into his thoughts   
and he turned in the direction of the open hatch of the Gundam, his   
eyes falling automatically to the - almost - empty seat.  
  
He blinked once, twice, then a third time as he watched the   
tiny, still disgustingly cute, critter on the seat chitter at him.   
The braid jumped around, tangling itself up in the tiny striped tail   
that emerged from the tiny black pants.  
  
This _couldn't_ be happening, he thought to himself, choosing to   
ignore the _thing_ waving it's arms wildly at him, sounding   
suspiciously annoyed. So he ignored it and began looking around for   
any sign of Duo.  
  
He leaned into the cockpit, placing his hand on the seat to   
balance himself and bent towards the control panels, having decided to   
playback the last mission log to figure out what had happened. His   
fingers were busy on the console when he was rudely interrupted.  
  
"Ow!" he exclaimed, lifting smarting fingers to his mouth and   
glaring down at the culprit, who waved a tiny chipmunk fist at him and   
danced about on the seat, grinning. Did chipmunks grin?  
  
"Look, you little... chipmunk... leave me alone, okay, I'm   
trying to do something here."  
  
The chipmunk placed his paws on his hips and began chittering   
loudly, pointing to itself then gesturing around the cockpit, grabbing   
a hold of it's braid and holding it out to show Heero. Then it glared   
at him with big chipmunk eyes and Heero found himself on the verge of   
crying.  
  
Somehow he knew what it was trying to say, had known all along,   
but did that mean he had to acknowledge the truth? He didn't want   
this to be happening, he wasn't trained to deal with a situation where   
most of the laws of physics had been turned upside down.  
  
Still, he had to say it, what with the fascination of the grisly   
and all that inbuilt through centuries of human conditioning and   
entertainment.  
  
"Duo?" it came out horribly weak and shaky, and was on the verge   
of being a whisper, but at least he'd got it out.  
  
The little priestly chipmunk nodded decisively and gestured from   
himself to Heero, somehow conveying that he wanted to be lifted up.  
  
Tentatively, Heero held out his hand and flexed it convulsively   
as Duo-chipmunk scampered onto it, causing the strangest sensation to   
run through his palm and up his arm.   
  
It tickled.  
  
Heero's nose wrinkled at the feeling and he sneezed.   
  
Duo-chipmunk rewarded him with a tiny tap on his thumb, which he   
had grabbed hold of to keep from falling off. Then he looked up at   
Heero and gestured towards Wing Zero.  
  
Unwilling to disobey this strange creature hanging onto his   
thumb, Heero obediently made his way to his own Gundam and powered up,   
heading for Peacemillion where Duo-chipmunk had directed him to go by   
jumping up and down on one spot of the space-map he'd bought up on one   
of his monitors.  
  
Then they were in space and Heero was glad that Quatre, and the   
other's would be on the Peacemillion 'cause he didn't think he could   
take much more of this.   
  
===Owari===  



	3. Quatre

========================================  
  
The Hazards of Magic III  
A Gundam W - Ruin Explorers Fusion  
By Sefilin  
  
========================================  
  
The sole blonde Gundam pilot - since Epyon wasn't really   
considered one, (though, really, he thought it should be, given the   
similarities) and it and its pilot were dead anyway - was waiting   
impatiently for Wing Zero to land. He had been waiting for quite some   
time, having been unable to get in touch with Heero for a number of   
hours - though the call _had_ gone through to Wing - and he wanted to   
know what had happened to Duo. Both because he wanted to know what   
had happened, along with everyone else, but also because there was no   
one else on the entire Peacemillion who really knew how to party.   
Some of the technicians admittedly came close, but Duo had every   
talent required for a real celebration and Quatre had decided a long   
time ago that he wouldn't attend the End-of-War parties without him.   
  
  
His train of thought ground briefly to a halt then picked up,   
having gained an extra passenger.  
  
Duo, he recalled, had mentioned something about Hirde having a   
similar capacity for fun as he himself did, but he'd checked on her a   
short while ago and she was still rather unconscious, which put a bit   
of a damper on things.  
  
So he was _really_ hoping Duo would get back _soon_.   
  
He hopped from foot to foot as Wing Zero powered down. Surely   
it didn't normally take this long for the scary - at least it was   
meant to be scary, though Deathscythe and Epyon were really the only   
mobile suits that did sinister well, due to colouring or something   
(maybe the scythe and whip?) - glow to it's eyes.  
  
There was a delay between the final cooling, the final   
vibrations - which were rather more pronounced than usual due to the   
damage Wing had sustained - and the opening of the hatch, revealing a   
short, skinny Japanese pilot. Quatre tilted his head to one side as   
he mused again how unflattering the spandex and tank top were, it made   
him look far more emaciated than necessary. Still, maybe it would   
help if he ended up captured, people feeling sorry for him and... but   
for it to be really effective, he'd need to adjust his attitude a   
little.  
  
Somehow, while his thoughts were caught up in the merits and   
demerits of Heero's customary outfit, Quatre had managed to move   
across to stand by the foot of the giant mech. The movement itself,   
though, didn't impinge upon his consciousness, as more than the vague   
and fading sensations within his body. Which was rather strange,   
given he was far more aware of his body currently since it was geared   
for celebration - dancing, drinking, laughing - all of them were   
rather dependant on the body.  
  
Then Heero was stalking towards him and Quatre just managed to   
refrain from throwing himself at the other boy and demanding to know   
where Duo was. Heero wasn't, after all, very well known for his   
touchie-feelie-ness or his tolerance towards glomping.  
  
It was not, therefore, surprising at all, that he found himself   
surprised - well, shocked really - when the Japanese pilot was the one   
to throw himself forwards instead.  
  
AAaaaaAAaaaaAAaaaaAAaaAAaaaAaaaaah...  
  
His head tossed around by Heero's shaking of his body - pretty   
thoroughly, too - Quatre almost swore he could hear birds chirping.   
His hands moved slowly upwards as he gathered his wits as well as he   
could and grabbed Heero's wrists and stopped the shaking. For some   
reason though he could still hear the bird chirping - wait a minute -   
it actually sounded more like...  
  
His gaze locked onto the tiny chipmunk standing on Heero's   
shoulder, holding onto his hair with one tiny paw to keep from falling   
and waving the other wildly at Quatre with the other.   
  
He blinked.  
  
"Quatre! You've _got_ to save me from him!" Heero began, almost   
yelling as he grabbed Quatre's shoulders again, threatening another   
shaking.  
  
Quatre couldn't help but notice the totally unbalanced, crazed   
look in the blue eyes - as opposed to the mostly unbalanced look that   
usually resided there, and had from the moment they'd met, and before.   
It had scared him and he'd been extra polite to the Japanese pilot   
ever since - but this...  
  
"Uh," he replied, not really knowing what else to do.  
  
For some reason Heero took it as an agreement to help and   
wrapped a hand around the chipmunk, tugging it until it's hold on his   
hair broke and shoved it across to Quatre, who held his hand out to   
take it automatically. He looked down at the tiny creature on the   
palm of his hand, noticed it bore a passing resemblance to Duo, and   
smiled sweetly, "Kawaii."  
  
He looked back up to ask where Heero had got the critter from   
just in time to see the Japanese pilot leaving the hangar in what   
looked to be a panicked dash. Quatre watched him disappear then   
looked back down at the chipmunk who was waving a tiny fist in the   
direction the other pilot had gone.   
  
He smiled.   
  
Definitely kawaii.  
  
"You _ have_ to be Duo's, right?"  
  
He wasn't really expecting an answer, so when the chipmunk shook   
his head emphatically and pointed to itself, he wasn't sure what to   
think.  
  
"Um..."  
  
The chipmunk began to wander round on his palm, seemingly   
drawing letters onto its surface. Only by concentrating fully on the   
chipmunk's motions could he resist curling his fingers into his palm.  
  
I...   
  
The first letter.  
  
A...  
  
The second.  
  
M...  
  
Third.  
  
D...  
  
U...  
  
O...  
  
Fourth, fifth and sixth.  
  
So, that would make it...Iamduo? What sort of word was that?  
  
Quatre puzzled over this for a few moments, broke off to wonder   
briefly at the intelligence of this little creature, then went back to   
deciphering the words meaning.  
  
Then suddenly his eyebrows contracted as it distinguished itself   
into three words instead of one 'I am Duo' and everything clicked in   
to place.  
  
"D-Duo?"  
  
The chipmunk nodded happily.  
  
Panic welled and Quatre ran quickly through a list of possible   
locations before taking off, ignoring the squeak from Duo-chipmunk as   
his hand closed around him a little more tightly than was comfortable.  
  
He crashed into the room he'd chosen and sighed gratefully at   
its occupants. He jumped forwards and thrust Duo-chipmunk towards one   
of them.  
  
"Trowa! You're good with animals...here!"  
  
And he left, knowing Trowa could handle this better than anyone,   
and besides, he had some partying to do.  
  
===Owari, III===  
  
Um, Trowa and Wufei next?  



	4. Wufei

========================================  
  
The Hazards of Magic IV  
A Gundam W - Ruin Explorers Fusion  
By Sefilin  
  
========================================  
  
Wufei sat, brooding and muttering to himself in the corner of the   
room that had been taken over by the Gundam pilots before the final   
battle. A final battle that was very much on the Chinese boys mind as   
he contemplated Treize's sacrifice and the very strange happenings   
afterwards.  
  
Fancy the great Heero Yuy not quite being able to save the day,   
it was unheard of, inconceivable, but was, quite clearly what had   
actually happened. After all their hard work blowing up OZ bases and   
dealing with Duo Maxwell, everything looked like it was going to hell   
in a basket. Then _something_ had happened that had saved them after   
all, and of all the unfair things to happen in his life, what happened   
then had to be the worst.  
  
_Maxwell_ had somehow managed to be the one to save the world.   
The clown, the baka, the braided, loudmouthed, obnoxious, irritating,   
annoying, manic _American_. It was humiliating, as one of the Gundam   
pilots to have to live under that cloud and he was seriously   
considering running away to hide before everyone heard and Maxwell   
became even more insufferable than usual - an almost impossible feat,   
but one he was absolutely sure Maxwell would manage just to spite him.  
  
Just then, he was saved from beginning to mutter about the   
American's gall at disappearing after the fact and postponing Wufei's   
obligatory congratulations so that he had to hang around for longer   
than he wanted to and brood - which he enjoyed, though _not_ when it   
was about the braided baka. Quatre scrambled into the room, almost   
colliding with Trowa in his haste to give the taller pilot something.   
Then the blonde was gone after a hastily muttered sentence.  
  
Wondering what the Arab's problem was, he looked at Trowa who was   
gazing at a small furry creature in his hand. Was that what Quatre had   
given him, and if so _why?_ Wufei had a hard time understanding his   
fellow pilots and, though Maxwell was by far the worst, Quatre and Yuy   
had a habit of making him uneasy also. Yuy and his insufferable   
snickering on the battlefield... and him meant to be the perfect   
soldier, too.  
  
A soft chittering broke into his mental rant and he noticed that   
the thing on Trowa's hand was busy moving around and chattering almost   
as much as Maxwell did. Wufei congratulated himself on the aptness of   
his comparison and continued to watch the spectacle of a creature   
dancing about Trowa's hand.  
  
Then Trowa nodded, "Sure, Duo."  
  
And he walked out.  
  
Completely baffled by that last comment, Wufei decided to follow   
and trailed Trowa down the corridor and into the next where their   
current quarters were situated.  
  
Instead of walking through the door with '03' pasted on it   
though, he went to '02', taking out a few thin tools to open it. A   
quiet chittering could be heard, and as Wufei moved a little closer, he   
could see the creature - which he now saw was a chipmunk wearing an   
outfit very much like Maxwell's, something that made him wonder how   
much damage had been done to Quatre by the ZERO system - pointing out   
the tools to be used.  
  
Trowa went with the suggestions and had the door open in very   
short order.  
  
Wufei followed them into the surprisingly clean room, and Wufei   
wondered if they were actually in Maxwell's room until he remembered   
that they hadn't really had the time to make themselves comfortable   
yet. Trowa and his furry friend bypassed the main room, not even   
pausing next to the bunk, but moving through to the tiny bathroom.  
  
The pilot of Heavyarms opened the cabinet above the sink and   
raised his other hand so the chipmunk could see and took the indicated   
bottle off the shelf. He set the chipmunk down on the rim of the sink   
and unscrewed the cap, tapping a single blue pill into his palm. He   
held it out and the chipmunk scampered onto his hand, grabbed it and   
began munching away.  
  
A flash of light later and Duo was standing next to Trowa.  
  
"Thanks, man," he said to Trowa who shrugged and turned to leave.  
  
"No problem, Duo."  
  
Wufei stood in the doorway, obstructing Trowa's exit, trying to   
figure out what just happened. If he didn't know better, he would   
almost be inclined to say that the chipmunk just turned into Maxwell.   
But that couldn't be right. Surely it couldn't be right. Could it?  
  
He replayed the scene in his head once more and came to the same   
conclusion. No, indeed, he hadn't seen a chipmunk turn into Duo; it   
was merely his mind playing tricks on him. He must have knocked his   
head and acquired a small case of concussion during that last battle   
without noticing it. That had to be it.  
  
"Wufei," Trowa's quiet voice called him back to the present and   
he realised he was standing in the taller pilots way.  
  
He moved aside and Trowa took a step forwards.  
  
"Hey, either of you guys know if the mad scientists survived?"  
  
Trowa glanced back over his shoulder to answer, "They didn't."  
  
At the same time Wufei demanded to know why he wanted to know.  
  
"I'm going to kill him if he's not already dead," Duo chirped   
cheerfully, bouncing out of the bathroom after Trowa. "But I suppose   
if he's dead I won't be able to. In which case, I hope he rots in hell   
for all eternity and crows pick at his eyeballs and worms make a home   
in his nostrils. I think that would be fitting, don't you?"  
  
And much to Wufei's surprise, Trowa nodded, "Seems fair if he   
left you with that." A hand waved at the cabinet that held the bottle   
of pills.  
  
"Exactly," Duo grinned, pleased that someone agreed with him and   
drifted out of the room.  
  
It was about then that Wufei's mind finally reached the   
inevitable conclusion, that the chipmunk _had_, in fact, turned into   
Duo. Unable to deal with it, Wufei dropped onto Duo's bunk and, his   
last thought before he drifted into darkness was that he just _knew_   
things were going to be worse after Maxwell's saving of the world.   
  
He just hadn't quite realised exactly how much worse. And   
unfortunately, now he did.  
  
===Owari===  
  
The last of these little ficlets ^_^ Duo's changed back and the Prof's   
not around for revenge to be exacted, so...  



End file.
